Iso-Lounge Chair

Project Info

Iso-Lounge Chair was selected as this year’s Production winner. The Furniture & Product judges are particularly impressed by the standard of projects in this category. The judges praised the Iso-Lounge Chair’s accomplished making and extreme comfort. Judge Corinne Julius comments, “It has surprising merit in that it is a piece of sculpture that disappears when sat on.”

Jasper Morrison looked to Isokon’s archives and was particularly inspired by the brand’s original logo, Gerald Summers’ Bent Plywood chair with its single flowing plywood surface, and Rietveldt’s Zig-Zag chair. Iso-Lounge’s cutting-edge design started life as a single sketch, where the hand flowed from the back of the seat to the floor. Plywood was the only choice of material to follow the curve of the cantilevered design. The cantilever relies on highly technical production to create balance and support.

More than four complete prototypes, alongside many prototype sections, were made over the course of a year to create a piece that offers total support and maximum comfort. Where strength is needed, there are more layers. Where it needs to flex, there are fewer. The chair has been honed to be incredibly responsive. The orientation of the veneer layers and their thickness was tested over many months to push plywood to its limits. A very simple basis of an idea has been executed it as purely as possible.

The chair is constructed from a single pressing consisting of 16 layers of veneer. Integral to the chair is the delicately curved back and tapering seat, created by machining the individual layers to a feather edge.